Tag Archives: family fun summer activities

We had a family outdoor activity day yesterday and spent it playing a great game — mini-golf. Well, T., C. A. and I played mini-golf, Spencer played a brand-new hybrid game I like to call mini-gobasebaskethockfoot. (Coming soon to a stadium near you, no doubt.)

Have you ever played mini-golf with a two-year-old? We did 18 holes yesterday as part of a family outdoor activity dayand I can honestly say I never have. Sure, Spencer had a club and a ball and there were all sorts of cute landscaped holes that we walked around, but whatever it was he was doing, it was not mini-golf. Not even close.

“It’s like playing with a walking windmill,” T. groused as he watched me line up the ball in an attempt to avoid not only the stable hazards that the landscape designers had put on the course, but the toddler one that had arms and legs and affinity for causing trouble. Despite not playing the right way, he sure had fun — he would grab the ball (not necessarily his own, sorry people behind us) and hit the ball and kick the ball and toss the ball, not to mention the club — swinging it like a bat and a hockey stick and a sword.
A few times, when it was Spencer’s actual turn, as opposed to the time he just decided to hit the ball on his own, he was content to stand with T. and let his dad show him the right way to do it. Still, when the instructional period was over, he was happy to go back to playing his rules, his way. (And once again, people behind us, I’m very sorry.)

Our family outdoor activity day was also spent riding go-karts, something Spencer was totally content to do the right away. C. is big enough to do drive one on his own and A. rode with T. so that left Spencer and I to tackle the road together. I drove much slower than the other drivers, purposefully, but he didn’t seem to notice. He sat in the car, a big smile on his face, giggling the entire trip around the track.

We capped off our day with grilled cheeseburgers, a trip to the playground and T. playing whiffle ball with the kids in the yard. Of course Spencer didn’t play whiffle ball, I think he calls it whifcricktrackandfield, but at least he had fun!

What type of great family activities does your family like to do?

Want to learn more about Spencer? Check out Shock and Aww on Facebook and my other parenting blog, We Are Both Right. Also, I’m on Twitter too. (Because I have all this time on my hands.